I was asked by the lovely Kitten, how to turn her A-line shaped dress into a elasticated hem top. I assume she doesn't want to got to the hassle of shortening the length, but even if she does, she can still use this method. Elasticated bubble hems are the easiest way to create a voluminous top (or skirt). I didn't know how to explain it without pictures, hence the shonky diagrams!
STEP ONE: THE DRESS AS IT IS. THE DOTTED LINE REPRESENTS THE STITCHING FOR THE HEM, THE BLUE REPRESENTS KITTEN AND THE RED REPRESENTS THE DRESS.
STEP TWO: PICK OPEN AN AREA OF THE HEM STITCHING IN ORDER TO FEED THROUGH SOME ELASTIC. THE ELASTIC SHOULD BE AS NEAR TO THE HEIGHT OF THE HEM, AND ROUGHLY THE SIZE OF YOUR WAIST (SO IF YOU HAVE A 27" WAIST, MAKE THE ELASTIC 29" TO ALLOW FOR SEWING THE ENDS TOGETHER, PLUS THE EXTRA INCH FOR COMFORT) . THREAD THE ELASTIC THROUGH AND SEW THE ENDS TOGETHER. AS YOU THREAD IT, YOU'LL SEE THE HEM BEGINNING TO GATHER TO FIT THE LENGTH OF THE ELASTIC. SEW THE TWO ENDS OF THE ELASTIC TOGETHER AND RESTITCH THE OPENING YOU MADE IN THE HEM. STEP THREE: ONCE YOUR ELASTIC IS THREADED THROUGH YOU'LL SEE THE BOTTOM HEM IS NOW ROUGHLY THE WIDTH OF YOUR WAIST - IT SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO FALL OVER YOUR HIPS WITHOUT YOU STRETCHING IT.
STEP FOUR: PUT IT ON AND THE ELASTICATED HEM SHOULD NOW SIT ON YOUR WAISTLINE AND THE REST OF THE DRESS WILL NATURALLY FALL OVER THE TOP, SO THE HEM IS TUCKED AWAY UNDERNEATH. YOU'LL BE LEFT WITH A NICE VOLUMINOUS TOP. HOW MUCH IS LEFT FOLDER UNDERNEATH DEPENDS ON THE DIFFERENCE IN LENGTH BETWEEN THE BOTTOM OF THE DRESS AND YOUR WAIST. IF IT'S A SAY 13" INCHES, THEN YOU'LL ROUGHLY BE LEFT WITH AN OVER HANG OF HALF THAT, THE OTHER HALF BEING TUCKED UNDERNEATH. TO MAKE THE GENERAL VOLUME LESS, SHORTENING THE ORIGINAL DRESS IS PROBABLY BEST.
I hope that sheds some light on the issue for Kitten.
Queen Michelle
